Memes and Status Updates

[Chris]

It's no secret to anybody that I've been much more active on the forums in the last few days, especially in the status updates. I try to chime in jokingly and it makes me happy to create some hype occasionally about new additions to the forums but also look to nip issues in the bud before they lead to our report centre.

 

In this time however, I've noticed that the reception for internet memes has been steadily going downhill. I want to make this very clear: my primary task on the forums is to solve disputes, be it amongst the staff or members. That is what I intend to do, but I won't go any further than to say the following about the entire situation:

 

If your intention is to stir up another user through the status updates indirectly, then you're more than likely going to lose your ability to use the function. Keep it civil - being silly in the updates is fine as it's meant to be an outlet, but using it as a means to disrupt the enjoyment of another user isn't going to be tolerated.

 

That said, I lost my cool in dealing with the situation and I apologize to those affected. It's for this reason that I won't take any action on the situation and will take full responsibility for what occurred. The staff are not incapable of error as can be seen here.

 

I hope you all continue to enjoy the additions I have planned for the forums for the rest of the week.

[Yoko/葉子]

Chris, so that I got the right idea about memes, no "doge," "Chuck Norris," jokes or being all "do a barrel roll" etc., right?

[Chris]

Chris, so that I got the right idea about memes, no "doge," "Chuck Norris," jokes or being all "do a barrel roll" etc., right?

I didn't say you can't use memes - actually quite the opposite. I want the negative attitude regarding them as well as other status updates to stop. It's a fun feature of the forums that isn't there to be used to harass or ruin someone's day.

[goku262002]

I have no idea whats going on and I don't think anyone is going to tell me either, so I'm guessing its one of those "you had to be their" moments. I'll go back and take a look...

What about memes that are just been dragged to the ground thanks to members that bring them up on a constant basis (like every single day)? can they be limited somewhat?

[Abominal SnowTaz]

I can say I saw this coming. There has been quite a lot of stir up lately over...what the hell ever meme is going on each time.

[Pelly <3's U]

I think the point is if you're doing something to intentionally do something to rustle someone's jimmies, whether it be post a meme they dislike or comment on people having fun with a meme in a negative way, then you should not do that. 

 

Otherwise everyone can just continue to post whatever they want as long as it's within the rules. 

[goku262002]

Just caught up on that...mess. wow, yeah I knew that was going to come to a boiling point some time, allot of us were getting sick of the repeating memes and I doubt this friendly reminder is going to quell things.

after all, we won't get ticked off at somebody and their dumb meme vomiting if we can't see them to begin with.

[Tara]

after all, we won't get ticked off at somebody and their dumb meme vomiting if we can't see them to begin with.

I like the suggestion, don't get me wrong, but that's still skirting around the issue.  The thing is, you should neither allow yourself to be pissed off at the very sight of a meme, nor should you use it to use it to alienate those who aren't in on the fun and don't want in.  The latter's called "flaming," and in some situations "trolling," which we already have rules against.

[Frogging101]

Just caught up on that...mess. wow, yeah I knew that was going to come to a boiling point some time, allot of us were getting sick of the repeating memes and I doubt this friendly reminder is going to quell things. after all, we won't get ticked off at somebody and their dumb meme vomiting if we can't see them to begin with.

Ignoring a person entirely over a silly meme is the wrong way to go about it in my opinion. You aren't forced to click on every link or read every status. People just need to relax and not get so upset over trivial things like this. And why shouldn't this friendly reminder quell things? This isn't some tremendous controversial issue that affects everyone deeply or threatens the very fabric of our community. It's freaking memes. Let's worry and get upset about stuff that actually matters, if we're going to do so.

[goku262002]

Mind you it would be JUST for memes, I just brought it up as an idea. but I want to see if its even possible first.

Because thats just how we are Frogging, things just don't settle down that easy unless we really enforce it.

[Chris]

Just caught up on that...mess. wow, yeah I knew that was going to come to a boiling point some time, allot of us were getting sick of the repeating memes and I doubt this friendly reminder is going to quell things.

after all, we won't get ticked off at somebody and their dumb meme vomiting if we can't see them to begin with.

I'm not sure why you're so against this reminder actually having an influence on our members. We have a lot of members here that take stuff like this to heart and actually interact better as a whole because of the improved atmosphere.

 

While I'm completely aware that there will likely be another topic about something like this before the end of this year, I would much prefer to address it in such a manner than try to invoke some additional moderation on the status updates. My time spent moderating those is high enough as is and with the semester winding down for many of our team members I'm not going to try and get them to do more either.

 

As for your suggestions, I often do not respond to feedback that either isn't realistic, is too much work, or just plain isn't available as a forum modification. I'm fairly certain your block user suggestion falls into the third category since it's essentially a widget on the board (and lets face it, ignoring is only sidestepping the issue).

 

 

Mind you it would be JUST for memes, I just brought it up as an idea. but I want to see if its even possible first.

Because thats just how we are Frogging, things just don't settle down that easy unless we really enforce it.

Only time will tell. The team and I have no intention of attempting to enforce anything beyond the standard forum rules. This topic serves as a reminder that courtesy is of the utmost importance when interacting on our forums and that the status updates are not exempt of this, be it posting a meme, joke, or something else.

[FromASloth]

Honestly, I say don't get butthurt over a meme in an update. The point of status updates is to have the freedom to post whatever won't go in a discussion, random meme or not.

[goku262002]

Not against it, not that much of a monster member. just doubtful that it will work, mistakes tend to repeat but like you say time will tell...

And maybe ignoring is the only way to solve some issues, not all mind you. but I'll look into it see what the IPB modding boards have to say.

[Frogging101]

Not against it, not that much of a monster member. just doubtful that it will work, mistakes tend to repeat but like you say time will tell...And maybe ignoring is the only way to solve some issues, not all mind you. but I'll look into it see what the IPB modding boards have to say.

If you feel that strongly about it, you could always write yourself a browser plugin or use a general-purpose pattern-based thing to hide certain members' updates. Just a suggestion.

[goku262002]

If you feel that strongly about it, you could always write yourself a browser plugin or use a general-purpose pattern-based thing to hide certain members' updates. Just a suggestion.

Not just me though, a good 10 or so members liked the suggestion too.

So do tell how this suggestion of yours works...

[Frogging101]

Not just me though, a good 10 or so members liked the suggestion too.So do tell how this suggestion of yours works...

It wouldn't be too difficult to use pattern matching (regular expressions and such) to hide comments from certain users by having a plugin that searches for the pattern in a page and removes the HTML code that comprises it.

I assume there are plugins that do this sort of thing already, but I am not certain.

[Chaos Warp]

Yeah, I agree with the "just don't get butthurt over a meme" thing. You're not forced to click the status update, and even though it might be slightly annoying to you (or it may not), who is it harming? Absolutely god damn no one. It's just a stupid trivial thing and I think it speaks to the argument that some people take things way, way too seriously that we needed this topic in the first place. 

[Solkia]

So where is the line drawn in status updates exactly?

 

It's mostly used for shitposting that doesn't have a place in any thread, causing an uproar because  someone's shitposting was repetitve just seems silly as a result.

 

That said there are a lot of ones that are found extremely fucking obnoxious like the "meh" posts or "reaction: shitpost" etc., that are accepted by some but not others, this time being doge. Is there a line, or is it anything goes as long as there's no callouts or porn?

[Lady Soniko]

Or screamers.

 

I don't mind memes, memes get overused all the over the internet, so what's another place going to do? It's when people use them to directly insult or get under their skin indirectly by posting pot shots.

 

I'd rather there be shitposting in the status feed than clogging up discussion in threads, I'd like to think that we as members ought to filter out the shit in the statuses and sort of moderate it on our own terms, only reporting shit that gets out of hand or breaks the rules.

 

It's the negativity members have against each other that starts fights, there will always be people who like something, and others who dislike it, so you can have fun with it, but if you're only using it get under the people's who don't like it skin, then you reap what you sow.

[Mauro Fonseca]

The fact that the usage of memes in these status updates, which are generally pretty, well, not bland, that's not the word.

 

Calm? Not bad? Not funny, but also not annoying? I hope you get what I'm trying to convey here.

 

Anyways, the fact that that kind of usage that occurs here is already being called shitposting, when shitposting is something on a whole other level of, well, shitposting and riling people up, already shows IMHO how everyone takes this too seriously.

 

Let people joke in the status updates. If they post porn or personally call someone out to insult them, take mod action. Simple as that, I'd assume. If it's bad and annoying jokes, well they're bad and annoying jokes. Nothing wrong with that.

[Tara]

Let people joke in the status updates. If they post porn or personally call someone out to insult them, take mod action. Simple as that, I'd assume. If it's bad and annoying jokes, well they're bad and annoying jokes. Nothing wrong with that.

I'll have you know that the only people we allow to post status updates are people with the highest possible degree of comedy.  Anyone who does not make us laugh for at least thirty minutes will have their status privileges permanently revoked.

 

(Nah, I'm kidding, obviously)

[Mauro Fonseca]

You've got comedians lined up to post in the status updates? So, a room full of Google+ programmers?

 

*rimshot, chorus sings "topical huuuuumoooooour"*

[Danj86]

I hate to chime in, I missed most of whatever happened before but I feel I should add something.

 

It's easy to say it's just a joke and you shouldn't let it bother you, but those that are making that argument are missing a very important fact. We all have a life to live and it's the events that take place in RL, that will ultimately effect how we react here. Some patience and understanding would also be a big help in these types of situations. 

I also shudder to mention this, but certain disabilities make it harder to understand jokes, Aspergers being one of the major ones. I have a mild case of it and just as an example, I didn't even crack a smile over the 2 posts before me. That doesn't mean they weren't funny, I just didn't get a reaction from them, but I do have a strong sense of humour and spend most of my time trying to laugh.

 

It also seems a shame to me, because as a lurker by nature, I tend to notice certain things every now and then. A large number of staff members have been dealing with difficult personal issues these days, and it seems a shame that they have to come here and deal with this crap.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Not laughing at those jokes isn't aspergers, if anything it's a sign of mental health

much of the internet works in metahumour where everyone knows the joke sucks and they lugh at the fact someone dared to tell a joke that sucked

it's absurd

[Danj86]

Not laughing at those jokes isn't aspergers, if anything it's a sign of mental health

much of the internet works in metahumour where everyone knows the joke sucks and they lugh at the fact someone dared to tell a joke that sucked

it's absurd

I used that as an example, I didn't mean it in general. Of course there is going to be different tastes in humour also.